IN an unexpected turn of events Lidl has confirmed it has purchased the highly-controversial site on Admiralty Road in Rosyth.
It comes after the supermarket chain announced in December of last year that it would "not be progressing" with plans to buy the site.
Now, a successful deal has been established by Lidl, the previous land owners Mac Mic Group, and Fife Council.
The plans, which were previously approved by the local authority, will see a new store opening - creating 40 new jobs with applicants receiving one of the highest rates of pay in the sector.
Ross Jackson, regional head of Property at Lidl GB, added: “Our plans to build a Lidl store in Rosyth have been approximately 10 years in the making. Therefore, we are very excited to have reached an agreement with Fife Council and Mac Mic Group that will allow us to finally bring a Lidl store to the community.
“As our customer base continues to grow in Scotland, this deal marks another important commitment to our ongoing investment in the country, and the Fife area in particular. We would like to thank the community of Rosyth for their continued support and now look forward to finally making their new Lidl store a reality.”
Lidl had previously said that it had been exploring options to bring a store to Rosyth for a decade, but was were "regretfully" not able to progress on this location.
A spokesperson said in December: "We have been exploring options to bring a Lidl store to this site for almost 10 years now.
"It has taken this amount of time for the conditions relating to the planning application to be discharged and unfortunately our contract has also now expired. Regretfully we will not be progressing with this particular site."
A deal has now been struck, however, and David Ross, Fife Council leader, has said the move will be a "welcome boost" to the town.
He commented: "I’m very pleased that Lidl has now confirmed plans for opening a store in Rosyth will be going ahead.
"It has taken some time to have this investment confirmed but it will be a welcome boost for the local area.”
Craig Ormond, Director at Mac Mic Group, also added: “We are pleased to have facilitated the sale to Lidl. This was a complex project involving multiple stakeholders.
"We now look forward to watching Lidl deliver this much-needed new store in Rosyth which we know will be welcomed by the local community.”
